Working cover and tool holder



April 11, 1961 A. DAIGLE 2,979,190

WORKING covER AND TooL HOLDER Filed Nov. 18, 1957 position on an automobile.V

United States Patent 2,979,190 Patented Apr. 11, 1961` WORKING COVER AND TOOL HOLDER Andrew Daigle, 3816 Wilson Ave., Castro Valley, Calif.

Filed Nov. 18, 19?57, Ser. No. 697,164

Claims. (Cl. V206-19.5)

The invention relates to a means of supporting tools and parts within reach of an automobile mechanic while he is working on the engine or adjacent vmechanism while the hood of the automobile is in raised position. The means aforesaid has combined therewith a fender protective covering which also serves as a support for receptacles or the like in which the tools or articles are placed.

As is well known, when an automobile mechanic is working on the engine or mechanism aforesaid, he ordinarily has need for use of various tools, and is usually constantly removing and replacing parts. Almost invariably he works while leaning over the top of one of the front fenders, and in #order to avoid scratching or otherwise marring the inish he will cover the fender with a suitable cloth. Frequently the mechanic will place the tools or parts on the cloth, or on some portion of the engine or mechanism; however, such a support is .not dependable or convenient nor will the mechanic always recall just where he had placed the tool or part.

An object of the invention is to provide a means of the character described which will serve to support the tools or parts in a manner to be readily accessible to the mechanic at or adjacent the particular mechanism on which he may be working.

Another object of the invention is to provide a means of the character described which may be supported by the fender without danger of marring the surface thereof or providing an obstruction thereon while in use.

A further object of this invention is to provide a means of the type referred to which is operatively associated with a protective working cover adapted to overlie a large surface area of the fender so as to protect the latter from grease, scratches or the like normally caused by the mechanic leaning on or over the fender.

Yet anotherobject of the invention is .to provide a device of t-he aforesaid character in which the working cover serves to support the tool Vholding means in their proper operative positions,- and in which means are provided for releaseably maintaining the cover in position over the fender notwithstanding the weight of the tools, etc. tending to dislodge the cover.

Still another object of my invention is to lprovide a device of the characterdescribed in which thetool holding means may be selectively positioned relative to its supporting cover so as `to permit movement thereof to substantially any desiredposition within the engine compartment.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which with the foregoing, willbe set forth in the :following description of the preferredforrn of the'invention which is `illustrated in the drawing accom# panyingand" forming part ofthe speciiication. It istobe understood,'however, that variations in the showing made by the said drawing and description may beadopted within the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

Referring to saiddrawingz' Figure 1 is a perspective view of the working coverv and tool holder of the 4present invention shownin operative Figure 2 is a transverse cross sectional view of the api paratus shown in Figure l.

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view taken substantially on article receiving member 12 positioned within the enginel compartment when the cover 11 is so disposed, an adjustably positioned article receiving vmember 13, likewise situated within the engine area, and securing means 14 to releasably hold the device -on said fender.

The'cover 11 is of generally rectangular form and of a size sufliciently large to cover the major portion of thefender in order to protect the finish of said fender fromgrease or oil that may be on a mechanics clothes or hands and to provide a padded protection against scratching or marring of the fender surface from contact with metal objects such as fasteners on the mechanics clothing, tools, `or automative parts that might otherwise come in contact with the fender. vIn accordance therewith, the cover 11 is constructed of a pliable type of material, such as plastic or leatherettathe under surface of which is soft and felt-` like and which is adapted to be positioned directly upon the fender surface, while the exposed outer surface of the cover is grease and water repellant. It will be understood that while thedrawing illustrates the cover as a single thickness fof material of the character hereinabove described, it could also be constructed of two pieces of pliable material, one being a soft, non-scratching materialsuch as a annel type cotton or sponge rubber and the other being a water and grease repellant material such as leatherette or plastic and bonded together to forma substantially single unit.

As seen in Figure l, the cover 11 is placed over the fender 16 so that the outer longitudinal edge 17 thereof extends substantially horizontally and adjacent' to the bot'ff tom of the downwardly depending portion of the fender,

beingsecured thereto by means laterto be described. The

opposed longitudinal edge 18 of the cover-'extends into the engine compartment a short distance along a vertical wall 19 defining a side wall of the engine compartment.r

The article receiving member ;12 is preferably provided support by means of a pocket 21 formed integrally with the cover 11 intermediate the ends thereof or secured to same as by stitching, andpositioned adjacent the edge 18, said pocket being generally rectangular in shapeand' `adapted to receive in close fitting engagement a rigid 11er1 ceptacle 22 of metal, plastic or the` like which is o p`e`n 1 at thc-top for insertion or withdrawal of certain of the mechanics tools. It will be noted that'when the cover isi installed on the fender, the member 12 will be 'positioned Aagainst the wall 19 and below the upper surface Vof the fender so as to be readily accessible yet out of the Hway l of the mechanic when the latter is leaning on the fender.

I Due to the positioning andrnanne'r of support of thel 'I f receptacle 2.2, particularly when illed'fwith tools, f parts or the like, the Weight thereof would,normally tend to causethe cover 11 to slide over the'tendersurface to-J wards and into kthe engine compartment. gAcco'rdngly,

to prevent ,such'movement and consequent' displacement of the receptacle, the securing means 14 is utilized.VV

here shown'such means includes a llexible strap 23 of".

. elastic or like material which comprises two convergingy v s f arms 24, the ends of which are securedl as by rivetsf or Ilche like in spaced relation to one another to the'upper v portion of a longitudinallyv extendingwall 26-lof the receptacle 22. The opp'osite ends of said arms are secured "v as by stitching to one end of fa member 27, the freefend'` of which passes through an aperture or slot 28 provided i in the upper portion of a hook 29. As shown in Figure 2, the hook 29 is provided with a rubber covering 31 to prevent scratching or marring of the fender thereby. The hook may be selectively adjusted longitudinally Vof the member 27 by sliding said hook .up ordownonthe member where it passes through the aperture 28. The area of the aperture is small enough to materially compress the cross-sectional portion of the member 27 passing therethrough, thereby frictionally maintaining the hook in position.

In operation, when the cover 11 is placed over the fender, the edge 18 is rst positioned so the pocket 21 is disposed within the engine compartment; then the strap 23 is arranged to overlie the cover with the .member 27 extending downwardly, and the hook 29 may then be slipped under the fender edge to electively secure the cover in position.

It will be noted that the strap 23 may be made entirely of an elastic material or, as One alternative, the arms 24 could be leather or the like while only the member 27 was elastic in order to provide a simple yet rapid means of securing the device on the fender notwithstanding the differences of contours yand varying heights of fenders on different makes of cars.

As an important feature of the present invention the adjustable tool or article supporting member 13, previously mentioned, is operatively carried by the cover 11 but arranged for movement relative thereto. In this manner the member may be selectively positioned to a desired location within the engine compartment for facilitating work on a particular portion of the mechanism within such compartment. As here illustrated, the adjustable member 13 is in the form of an open top receptacle which extends interiorly of the motor compartment and is mounted by means of an extensible element 32 to the receptacle 22. The element 32 comprises a member 33 generally rectangular in cross section, the distal end of which is Welded or otherwise secured to an upper medial portion of one wall of the receptacle 13. The free end of the member 33 is adapted to slide within a sleeve 36, one end of which is pivotally mounted as at 37 to an upper central portion of a longitudinally extending wall 38 of the receptacle 22.

`It will be appreciated that the pliable nature of the pocket 21 will not provide a completely rigid supporty for the two receptacles 22 and 13, especially when they contain tools and parts. More particularly, the weight of the receptacle 13 will tend to `angularly position the receptacle 22 Within the limitations of the pocket 21 as illustrated in Figure 2. Such angular displacement would be'transferred to the receptacle 13 in a greater degree due to the element 32 itself possessing a certain amount of flexibility. In order to prevent such undesirable positioning of `and to maintain the receptacle 13 in a substantially horizontal plane `the distal end portion of the member 33 is bent upwardly and welded to the side of the receptacle 13 as hereinabove described, such end portion dening anV angle of about 80 degrees with the other portions of the member.

It should be noted that the receptacle 13 and member 33 can be completely disengaged from the sleeve 36 for placement in the receptacle 22 to facilitate compact storing of the device .when not in use.

What is claimed is: y

l. A device of the character described comprising a generally pliant protective cover having a medial portion adapted to overlie the upper surface of a fender of a vehicle, a first end portion adapted to extend into the engine compartment to overlie the inner fender wall and a second opposed end portion adapted to overlie the outer exposed fender wall, said cover being provided with a pocket secured to said lirst end portion, an article receiving receptacle carried in said pocket so as to be positioned entirely within the engine compartment adjacent the inner fender wall, a llexible strap overlying said cover and including a pair of converging arms having respective distal ends thereof'secured in spaced relation to one another to said receptacle, a band member connected to converging ends of said arms, and an adjustable hook element carried on the free end of said band member for releasably engaging the lower outer edge of said outer fender wall adjacent said second end portion of said cover.

2. A device as set -forth in claim l further defined by a second article receiving receptacle adapted to be freely supported within said engine compartment, an extensible element including a slidable member having a distal end secured to said second receptacle, a sleeve in slidable engagement with the free end of said slidable member, and pivot means connecting an end of said sleeve to said tirst named article receiving receptacle.

3. A device of the character described comprising a generally pliant cover member having a medial portion adapted to overlie the upper surface of a fender, a lirst end portion adapted to overlie the outer exposed surface of the fender, and a second opposed end portion adapted to overlie a wall between the fender and engine compartment of a vehicle,.said second portion having pliant means for supporting an open-topped receptacle in a position adjacent the surface of the second portion wherein the top opening of the receptacle is pointed toward said medial portion, a receptacle supported in said position by said pliant means, and securing means attached to said receptacle and overlying said cover member with the distal end of the securing means relative to said receptacle adapted to releasably engage the lower edge of the outer fender wall.

4. A device asset forth in claim 3, further defined by a second receptacle, and means operatively connecting said second receptacle in substantially parallel laterally spaced relation to said rst receptacle for adjustably positioning the former relative to the latter.

5. A device of the character described comprising a protective cover adapted to overlie a fender of a vehicle with one end portion thereof adapted to extend into the engine compartment thereof and to overlie the inner fender wall with the opposite second end portion of the cover adapted to overlie the outer exposed surface of the fender, said rst end portion having a pliant pocket opening toward the second end portion, a rigid receptacle removably disposed within said pocket and adapted to be positioned entirely within the engine compartment adjacent the inner fender wall when the cover is operatively positioned to overlie atender, and adjustable length securing strap means secured to said receptacle and loosely overlying said cover, said strap means including at its distal end relative to said receptacle releasable engagement means for releasably engaging the lower edge of an outer fender wall.

References Cited in the 'file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,047,325- .Tones July 14, 1936 2,119,072 Cohen May 31, 1938 2,460,394 Peatross Feb. l, `1949 2,491,009 Lawrence Dec. 13, 1949 2,508,527 Martin et al. May 23, 1950 2,797,932 Ambrose July 2, 1957 

